I don’t follow the news too much, but even I had heard of the March For Our Lives. I happened to be walking by the Greenfield Common around noon, and read some of the signs being held by people gathered there.
One of the signs had “NRA” inside a circle with a line through it. Being curious, I attempted to engage the kindly looking lady about her sign, asking questions about the NRA etc. After about three or four questions, she abruptly said “OK, you can go now.”
I was not being disrespectful or rude, and I was surprised that she had dismissed me so rudely and quickly. After all, if one is willing to stand on the Common with a sign, it is only reasonable that one should be further willing to discuss what the sign says.
Was the lady trying to change people’s minds, or merely signaling her virtue to other like minded people? After this another kindly looking lady attempted to engage my 10-year-old son, claiming that his opinion mattered regarding gun control. Fortunately, he was mostly preoccupied with his hot chocolate, and I don’t think he even heard her. This brings me to the point of my letter.
Gun ownership is an adult topic. While I am not necessarily going to dismiss children’s opinions out of hand, I am certainly not going to give them much weight. After all, if it were up to my children, they would never brush their teeth or go to school, and would have ice cream three meals a day. Why should I defer to their opinion on gun control? Private gun ownership in America has many grown-up defenders, with many rational arguments for their position. Let’s keep the argument on an adult level, please.
Paul Maiewski
Whately